Ray – Reliance Home Video - Rs. 599/-

Cast: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell.

Director: Taylor Hackford

Soul singer and pianist Ray Charles Robinson (23^rd September 1930 – 10^th June 2004), aka Ray Charles' life comes alive on screen through the work of Jamie Foxx. Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Foxx walked away as winner for Best Actor award.

The film pans on Ray’s his humble beginning in Georgia, where he went blind at the age of seven, to his pre-fame life touring the South, and phenomenal career graph that soared during the 1950s and 1960s, his problems with racism, drug abuse, failed relationships, and his ideas to change the sound of his music by combining soul and gospel music.

The film opens up where Ray is waiting for a Greyhound bus to take him to Seattle where a job is waiting for him. Once there, his spontaneous and brilliant musical ability make many people (including blacks and whites) want to take advantage of the blind man musical genius. They want to shortchange him of his money or try to contract him for their own benefit. We also see flashbacks of Ray’s turbulent life as a kid, his brother who accidentally drowned in a tub of water and his struggle to live with his mother. The docu- drama shows Ray’s life as it is in its true form. It shows the devastating impact that fame had on him. Being such a successful musician made Ray a ladies' man, resulting in multiple affairs while his wife stayed home and raised their children. But more than that, it was his weakness for heroin addiction that got him his biggest downfall.

Foxx’s role as Ray is remarkable, fitting perfectly well with the late legend that approved the film shortly before his death in June 2004. The hit songs are all there. Georgia, Born to Lose, Unchain my heart and many more.

-  Reviewed by Verus Ferreira